


Take Care of Yourself

by LacePendragon



Series: Ironqrow Week 2020 [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: IronQrow Week, Ironqrow Week 2020, M/M, Missing Scene, Pre-Relationship, V7C9 Scene Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22244338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: Qrow joins Oscar to tell James what he doesn't know, and to hold him up as the truth bears down on him.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood
Series: Ironqrow Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600084
Comments: 16
Kudos: 105





	Take Care of Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2: Take Care of Yourself. This one is rougher, but I like it a lot. I originally was going to post this last week, as part of my usual after-episode nonsense, but I didn't finish it in time, and then I just wanted to use it for today.
> 
> Cheers!

Qrow stayed behind. When the transport was called and the kids took off, Qrow stayed behind. He stayed for a few reasons: because he didn’t want to get in the way, because the idea of a transport that full of people made his stomach turn, because he could fly down whenever he wanted. But mostly, he stayed because of James.

When Oscar turned to tell James, Qrow was at his side, and Oscar jumped.

“I didn’t realize you were still here,” said Oscar, sounding a little out of breath.

Qrow nodded. He stuffed his thumbs in his pockets. “I’m coming with you,” he said. “James is my friend. I should be there.”

Oscar nodded. Together, they turned and headed back to the meeting room, where James was finishing up telling the council members, and Robyn, about Salem.

Sleet and Camilla looked pretty shaken. Robyn looked mostly scared. She looked at Qrow when he stepped into the room, brow furrowed and eyes wide.

“Is it true?” she asked, her voice wavering. The unstoppable force of Robyn Hill brought down by the truth. Yeah, Qrow could relate. “This woman? Salem? She’s… real?”

Qrow nodded. “Very. And she’s got allies. I take it James told you about them?” She nodded. “Yeah, well.” Qrow stuffed his thumbs in his belt loops. “It’s a hell of a truth to learn. Take your time.”

She nodded in turn and let out a shaky breath, shaking her head as she left the room. “I need some air.”

Qrow cast a glance at Sleet and Camilla, then at James. He nodded to Oscar, who approached James and laid a hand on his right arm. James jolted a bit, eyes wide.

“Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla,” said Qrow, putting on his best diplomatic voice. “Could you excuse us for a minute? I understand you need time to process what’s been said, and I have something personal to talk to James about.” He spread his hands with a little smile. “Unless you wanna know?” He waggled his eyebrows. Sleet’s ears turned red and he and Camilla hurried out of the room. Qrow shut the door behind them, turned back to James and Oscar, and rolled his eyes.

“Some people,” said Qrow. He pushed off the door and strode toward James and Oscar. “We should sit down.” He gestured at James’ chair. “You’re gonna want to, James. We… have some shit to tell you.”

James looked from Qrow, to Oscar, then to Qrow again. He nodded. “All right. Let’s talk.”

So, they did. Qrow and Oscar laid it out, working with the knowledge that both of them had gathered from Jinn, but also from Ozpin, albeit in much different ways, since Oscar and Qrow had met.

They told James that Ozpin had lied about the lamp. That there had been two questions remaining. They told James about Oscar fighting Ozpin to let them talk to Jinn. And they told him what Jinn told them. That Salem was a human being turned Grimm, destroyed by grief and her love of Ozpin. That Ozpin and Salem had been lovers. That Salem had killed Ozpin’s first reincarnation and their daughters. How Ozpin’s grief had nearly destroyed them, and then, how Ozpin had asked Jinn how to destroy Salem, and Jinn had said, “you can’t.”

Afterward, James stared at the table, a haunted look in his eyes. He didn’t speak for a minute after Qrow and Oscar finished. Qrow sat on his right, Oscar on his left, and while James stared, Qrow leaned closer to rest his hand atop James’ right, rested on the table.

“She can’t be killed,” whispered James.

Oscar nodded. “That’s what Jinn said to Ozpin. Nora… pointed out that she said ‘you’, meaning maybe someone else? But we don’t know. We haven’t asked her, er, Jinn.”

Still, James didn’t move much. His mouth was parted, his eyes wide, and all Qrow could think was that the last time he’d seen James this off balance, Vale was falling. He’d pulled James back, then, but Qrow didn’t know if he could do that, now.

This was too much. It had almost killed him. It had almost destroyed the kids. How could they help James, when James’s whole plan had relied on the assumption that Salem could be destroyed? What was James supposed to do now?

Slowly, James nodded, closing his eyes and letting out a deep, shaky breath that made Qrow’s breath catch in his chest. James put his left hand over his mouth and looked away from Oscar, head still bowed. The different in their height, and Qrow’s own slouch, meant Qrow could see into James’ teary eyes. He’d turned to spare Oscar his tears. His grief.

Qrow squeezed his hand tighter.

“Oscar, why don’t you make sure the council members are okay? I’m sure they could use someone used to all this,” said Qrow. His voice was soft and he didn’t look away from James, except at the end, when he glanced at Oscar. Oscar looked at James, then at Qrow, then nodded.

“Sure,” said Oscar. “I can do that.” He got up and put a hand on James’ left shoulder. “We can still fight, General. You’re a strong man, and more than that, you are aware of your fears and your shortcomings. Atlas is held to a higher standard for being a city in the sky. You hold yourself to those same standards. But you don’t have to, anymore. We’re here to help.” He squeezed, released James’ shoulder, and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

“He sounds like Oz,” said James, his voice rough. Qrow swung his gaze back to James and nodded. “That’s almost exactly what they said when we put Atlas in the air.” He looked at James, whose eyes were sparkling with unshed tears, and let out a soft breath.

“Yeah,” said Qrow. “Wise beyond his years. Reminds me of Ruby.”

James shook his head. “Do you… do you think that Oscar is losing himself? That he and Ozpin are merging?”

Qrow remembered what Jinn had shown them. What the Brother of Light had said to Oz, about never being alone. How Oz had interacted with the original souls in the bodies they inhabited, both in the first body, with Salem, and in a later one, with the silver eyed children.

“No,” said Qrow. “I don’t think the merge is real. I think Ozpin just told us that.”

James furrowed his brow, blinking. A tear slipped free and Qrow fought the urge to reach out and wipe it away. “Why would they do that?” asked James.

Qrow sighed. “Because if we thought the souls merged into one, we’d have no reason to question what happened to the original soul in their old body.”

James was silent for a long moment. Then, with a choked noise, he bowed his head and rested his hand across his whole face. He still didn’t raise his right hand from Qrow’s grip.

“They lied about so much,” whispered James. “Why?”

“So we wouldn’t lose hope,” said Qrow. Qrow squeezed James’ hand a little tighter. There was little give, but he did his best to squeeze harder, just as he would have for James’ left. “Ozpin feared that we’d lose the will to fight if we knew what Jinn had said.”

James looked at Qrow. The sorrow in his blue eyes held a depth that Qrow suspected only the pools of Grimm could mirror.

“How are you so calm about this?” whispered James. “You dedicated your _life_ to Ozpin.”

Qrow took a shaky breath. There was a roaring in his ears when James said those words, not unlike the roaring he’d heard when they’d all first come out of the memories Jinn had shown them.

“I wasn’t,” said Qrow. He ran his thumb across the side of James’ gloved hand, stroking back and forth as he spoke. “I actually slugged Oz, when we came out of it. Put them into a tree. Didn’t talk to Oscar for… weeks. Not until we were here.” He shook his head. “And I tried to drink myself into a coma. But part of that was the Apathy, on the farms.”

James sucked in a breath. “You fought Apathy?” he asked, and Qrow nodded. Looking into it, he knew there were Apathy in Atlas. That they were the reason a settlement to the west, Ferrous, had failed. It’d been a settlement when Qrow was still in school. But Atlas was so segregated from the rest of Remnant that word of its existence, and collapse, had never gotten out of the kingdom.

“Right after we learned the truth,” said Qrow. “That’s one of the big reasons I stopped drinking, on the way here. The Apathy…” He shook his head. “If it hadn’t been for Maria, we would have died, James. I didn’t even know anything was wrong.” He clenched his right hand, resting on his leg, and cursed under his breath. “For all I know about silver eyes, I never tried to teach Ruby anything about them. She helped with that.”

He cleared his throat. This wasn’t the point.

“I’m sorry,” said James. “I…” He closed his eyes. “I should have realized that you would be as affected by the news as I am.”

Qrow squeezed his hand again. “Jim. You’re allowed to be scared. You’re allowed to need time, to have doubts. Learning this… it sucks. All right? It fucking sucks. And we don’t have any answers.” He sighed. “I wish I could tell you that it’s all going to end just fine. That we know how to beat her, that we know how to win.” He shook his head. “But I can’t. I don’t know how this fight is going to end, James. I only know where we are now.”

For a long moment, James was silent, then, with a quiet sigh, he said, “I’m scared.”

“Me too,” said Qrow.

“What keeps you going?” asked James.

Qrow replied, “The kids, mostly. They have hope. They’re trying. Hell, Oscar is still going despite how much shit he took from us, when we all found out the truth. Between me bruising him, the girls yelling at him, Ozpin vanishing, and then Jaune putting him into a wall…” He trailed off. “He’s been through a lot, and he didn’t ask or deserve any of it. Ruby found out the truth, about her eyes, about how no one knows what happened to Summer, and she’s still going.” He drummed the fingers of his free hand against his leg. “I don’t know, James. All I know is the kids are, so I am too. We have to choose to fight for something.”

“Something to fight for…,” murmured James. “We need to keep Mantle safe. If we can run out the Grimm, we might be able to rebuild. If nothing else, we can send huntsmen to fight and protect while we evacuate the city into Atlas.” As he spoke, he picked up his general voice, the commanding words ringing between the two. Then, like a puppet with its strings cut, he slumped. “I just hope it’s not too late, and that we’re not playing into her hands.” He looked to Qrow. “It’s all we can do for now.”

With a nod, Qrow got to his feet, releasing James’ hand as he did. “We should get down there and help, then.”

“I’m not going with you,” said James. Qrow stared. “After I speak with Robyn, I’ll be heading to the arena.”

“To protect it?” asked Qrow.

“To lay a trap for Arthur.” James’ clenched his hands into fists at his sides. “He took _everything_ from me. It’s time he paid the price.”

Qrow laid a hand on James’ chest, over his heart. “Not everything,” said Qrow, softly. “You still have me, and everyone with me. We’ll fight with you, James. You just have to let us.” He ran his hand up James’ chest and onto his shoulder. “Let _me._ ”

James stared down at Qrow, lips parted, eyes soft. He swallowed visibly. “Don’t you have a grudge with Tyrian to settle?” he asked, in a rough voice.

Qrow nodded. “I do,” he said.

“Then come find me when it’s over,” said James. “We’ll save Atlas, together.”

“Together,” agreed Qrow. There was a knock on the door and it opened. Oscar smiled at them.

“Our transports are here,” he said.

“We’ll be right out,” said James. Oscar nodded and shut the door.

James looked at Qrow. “Looks like it’s time to go,” said James.

Qrow nodded. He leaned up on his toes and pressed a kiss to James’ cheek. James stared at him, eyes wide, mouth fallen open.

“Take care of yourself out there, Jim,” said Qrow. “I’ll see you on the other side.” He released James and headed for the door.

James rested a hand on his cheek. “When this is over,” he started, and Qrow paused to look at him and raise an eyebrow in question. “Do you want to get lunch?” he asked.

“A date?” asked Qrow.

James nodded.

Qrow grinned. “Last one to win their fight, pays.” And then he was gone, heading out into the hallway, passed Robyn and the council members, picking up Oscar as he went. It was going to be a long night, but when it was over, Qrow had a lot to look forward to.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are loved and appreciated!


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